To talk the stripes off a zebra

: Hi, I'm trying to find the meaning of "to talk the stripes off a zebra". My impression is that it either means that someone is very persuasive or that he talks too much and about unimportant things, but since I haven't found it anywhere I can't confirm. I need this for a class assignment. Thanks!

It could be used either way. *My* impression is that "very persuasive (in speech)" is the primary meaning. The phrase suggests a con artist who knows how to get things, how to make a listener yield up something, by talking. But I have no research to back this up.